I just went to this shop to get a quote on business cards. I didn't order anything nor will I, thus while I have no opinion on the quality of his product, I have opinions on his overall offerings when it comes to business cards.
First I have a bit of a problem with a "bait and switch" tactic. Their website states "[business] cards starting at $34", however, when I got to the shop my potential job of a standard 4-color card would run $125 for 1000 cards, and there is no option for a smaller package (250, or 500, which are standard amounts at good shops). Granted, my cards are front-and-back, but even if you double their advertised price this is still a terrible bait and switch.
Second, this guy does not proof cards unless you pay him an extra $50. Q: Why should someone use a local shop for printing? A: Because print jobs like business cards should be proofed and that's a bit tough for online companies to do well (not impossible, just tough). Thus my job with proofing is now up to $175 for 1000 cards, where his site claims, again, $34. I have no problem paying what he asks but I want some assurances or at least implications of good quality, and there are none from this guy.
Third, this guy has almost no paper and finish choices. He offers 14pt and 16pt paper in plain white, and that's it. He offers no coating, or shiny UV protected, that's it (no matte-UV).
Fourth, I'm quite technically savvy when it comes to graphics and formats and I can unequivocally say that this guy isn't. Thus you're playing a dangerous game by sending him digital versions of your card for printing without proofing (uhh... translation: if you're going to use this guy, pay for proofs!). This guy stumbled to explain concepts like RGB, CMYK, and PMS color.
Fifth, he really didn't understand the "reversing out" technique, which I'd say is pretty standard for printing light text on dark backgrounds. Ok, so maybe he should haven't needed to know the name of the technique, but I'm not worried about that. He just plain old didn't understand that I might want to have him find a light gray color paper and then print my dark background around that, leaving the reversed-out (unprinted) area to show my text.
In closing and in fairness to him, the guy was really nice. It also looks like printing cards is a minor part of his business, where shirts, signs, and other stuff is the majority. read more